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bisexualwentworth's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I adored A Day of Fallen Night even more than The Priory of the Orange Tree. The world is even richer, the pacing is smoother, and the action scenes are longer and more vivid. I loved exploring this era of this world. I loved every single one of the POV characters. I loved the parallels between Glorian and Dumai, the connections between Tunuva and Wulf, the friendship between Wulf and Glorian, and so much more. Lesbians of different ages are both riding and slaying dragons in this one. The political intrigue is excellent. The religious/magical/mythological elements are still a focus, but I'd say there are the main focus in Priory, whereas in ADOFN, the main focus is on motherhood and on the role of women in society.
There is definitely a slightly dissonance between the queernormativity of the world and the emphasis on heteronormative continuations of bloodlines, but it didn't bother me much.
Personally, I would recommend reading this one first. I think Priory would hit harder that way. I look forward to a reread in chronological order later down the line when the rest of the series is out, though Shannon has stated that they will all be designed to work as standalones.
There is definitely a slightly dissonance between the queernormativity of the world and the emphasis on heteronormative continuations of bloodlines, but it didn't bother me much.
Personally, I would recommend reading this one first. I think Priory would hit harder that way. I look forward to a reread in chronological order later down the line when the rest of the series is out, though Shannon has stated that they will all be designed to work as standalones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
Additional content warning for childbirth.sophie221010's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Favourite book of all time. Have read it twice now and it just keeps getting better. Funny, devastating and hopeful. Perfect read for anyone looking for a delicious read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death and Religious bigotry
Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
chanlo1994's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This book differs, in a good way, from its predecessor by focusing its conflict more on the supernatural elements than the political ones. It still felt like the same.universe but we got to see so much more that was left to be discovered from the first book. I enjoyed it very much. I'd love to see a book detailing the original Dreadmount eruption and the Snow Maiden
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Death of parent
chelly_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War
lmfry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
readandfindout's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
4.0
Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Plot: 3.5 stars stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death and Religious bigotry
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Cannibalism
shottel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A Day of Fallen Night is an improvement over The Priory of the Orange Tree in nearly every way. It would take a long time to enumerate all the positive changes, but a few in short: The pacing is better, the diversity is better, the appeal to modern audiences is better, the feminist themes are clearer, and even the cover art is better! Priory's Eastern branch lagged, but the branches are deftly balanced in Fallen Night. The book remediates Priory's odd penchant for mostly only mentioning the skin type of white characters, and features a significant number of LGBT+ (every letter of the acronym! and then some!) main and secondary characters. It draws on contemporary writing trends from other adult-genre books and, seemingly, fanfiction ("It's too cold, we have to cuddle for warmth") to excellent effect. And women's issues, most notably issues of pregnancy and birth, feature far more prominently, with the noble requirement to sustain a bloodline playing a role throughout the book.
This mandate to procreate establishes this book as far more clearly feminist (the idea that women have issues, interests, and stories worth hearing as much as men do) than its sequel. The need for nobility to sustain itself through childbirth is a recurring, central issue of the book, among other issues which concern women more than they do men, which also make frequent appearances.
In some ways, this book feels like it was written to an audience that might be into medieval court drama or epic adventures, but aren't too fond of the biases that pervade those genres. It is a grand epic, fantastically wrote, including women, LGBT+ characters, and people of color as equals to men, cishet, and white characters.
There are only a few places where it falters. The biggest problem I had is that the action scenes are confusing. I found myself frequently struggling to imagine the scene, re-reading portions over and over again. At first I thought it was a me issue, but after a half-dozen or so times, I figured it's probably not a me problem.
Additionally, I flagged two more minor concerns. First, with the presence of so many LGBT+ characters, the lack of transfeminine characters stands out oddly. Perhaps one or both of the nonbinary characters in the book are intended to be transfeminine, but there is no way to know this from the text. I don't make any guesses as to why; it just sits weirdly. Secondly, while *Priory* is a truly self-contained work, *Fallen Night* hints at an intention to write another book set between the two. This is the only change which I find to be a step backwards from *Priory*.
When layered inside an over 800 page grand adventure, these issues are minor, thus my score of 4.75/5. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in grand adventures, feminist fiction, fantasy, or fiction with LGBT+ main characters.
This mandate to procreate establishes this book as far more clearly feminist (the idea that women have issues, interests, and stories worth hearing as much as men do) than its sequel. The need for nobility to sustain itself through childbirth is a recurring, central issue of the book, among other issues which concern women more than they do men, which also make frequent appearances.
In some ways, this book feels like it was written to an audience that might be into medieval court drama or epic adventures, but aren't too fond of the biases that pervade those genres. It is a grand epic, fantastically wrote, including women, LGBT+ characters, and people of color as equals to men, cishet, and white characters.
There are only a few places where it falters. The biggest problem I had is that the action scenes are confusing. I found myself frequently struggling to imagine the scene, re-reading portions over and over again. At first I thought it was a me issue, but after a half-dozen or so times, I figured it's probably not a me problem.
Additionally, I flagged two more minor concerns. First, with the presence of so many LGBT+ characters, the lack of transfeminine characters stands out oddly. Perhaps one or both of the nonbinary characters in the book are intended to be transfeminine, but there is no way to know this from the text. I don't make any guesses as to why; it just sits weirdly. Secondly, while *Priory* is a truly self-contained work, *Fallen Night* hints at an intention to write another book set between the two. This is the only change which I find to be a step backwards from *Priory*.
When layered inside an over 800 page grand adventure, these issues are minor, thus my score of 4.75/5. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in grand adventures, feminist fiction, fantasy, or fiction with LGBT+ main characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Torture, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Abortion
hannahpings's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
my god i fell in love with this book and these people and this world. i never wanted it to end and i'm so sad it did. every single one (not an exaggeration!) of its characters had significant depth and nuance, and felt authentic in a way i wasn't necessarily expecting. i'm not going to be able to forget about any of them any time soon, and i wouldn't want to. it's also seeped in the lore and complex politics that i was craving after its predecessor.
i also loved priory––i think it was fantastic––but for me, there's been a marked improvement in samantha shannon's writing between the two. a day of fallen night gives itself time to breathe, has pitch-perfect pacing, and doesn't fall prey to the same "and then all this happened btw and now we're here" telling-not-showing issue that priory does.
this book made me feel a way i haven't felt in 20 years at least. i truly cannot wait to read all 868 pages again
i also loved priory––i think it was fantastic––but for me, there's been a marked improvement in samantha shannon's writing between the two. a day of fallen night gives itself time to breathe, has pitch-perfect pacing, and doesn't fall prey to the same "and then all this happened btw and now we're here" telling-not-showing issue that priory does.
this book made me feel a way i haven't felt in 20 years at least. i truly cannot wait to read all 868 pages again
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Suicide, and Vomit
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A Day of Fallen Night is not just epic in length - a whopping 868 pages to be exact - but epic in just about every other way.
The worldbuilding is intricate down to the tiniest detail, and the care that Samantha Shannon took is evident on every single page. I can't imagine what the research process was like for this, but, as with The Priory of the Orange Tree, I can say that it must have been exhaustive (and no doubt exhausting too). I am in awe of the scale of it. Belief, politics, geography, history - it's all here and all believable.I would have liked a fuller map of Hróth, though!
The plotting is also immaculate. The way Shannon has created her POV characters and how she has crafted every twist and turn of the plot to bring them together and apart is masterful. I will say that at times the characters felt more like pieces in the elaborate chess match that was Shannon's plot, rather than fully fleshed-out human beings. And the dragons and other magical creatures determined to be dangerous? Let's just say I didn't find their evil natures entirely convincing, given that they seem evil just for the sake of it.
There are four characters - dubbed "storytellers" in Shannon's extensive notes and glossaries - whose points of view we see. Tunuva, a middle-aged sister at the Priory of the Orange Tree, Glorian, the adolescent heir to a fabled queendom, Wulf, a young man sworn to a Northern King, and Dumai, a twenty-seven-year-old apostle at an ancient mountain temple.
Of all of them, the ones I liked best were probably Tunuva, Glorian and Wulf. Dumai I couldn't really warm to, although she was very interesting as a character.
Speaking of characters, this novel has a huge cast - I appreciated the index at the back, which I found an excellent way of keeping track of the characters and their relationships with one another and their worlds. I did feel that some of the smaller characters got lost in the bigness of it all. Of the secondary characters, I probably appreciated Nikeya most. And Canthe (who I suspected from the start as having a hidden agenda, it was almost too simple when her big reveal happened, thrilling as it was to read ).
Aside from feminine agency and power (similarly dominant in Priory), the themes of environmentalism, religion, and belief also come through very strongly. The overarching plot point of the novel is analogous to world events of the last few years (the threat of climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic, most evidently ). Overall this was effective, although I do feel it was hammered home just a bit too much at times.
LGBTQIA+ representation is done well throughout. There are trans and non-binary folk in the large cast of characters, and a range of different sexualities among minor and major characters also. Within the world Shannon has created, this gender and sexual diversity is normalised, which is refreshing to read about. Although this is an imagined world in terms of ethnicity there is still a range of skin tones from white to dark-skinned, which I know many will appreciate.
Although it has its flaws, this was overall a satisfying and highly enjoyable read.
The worldbuilding is intricate down to the tiniest detail, and the care that Samantha Shannon took is evident on every single page. I can't imagine what the research process was like for this, but, as with The Priory of the Orange Tree, I can say that it must have been exhaustive (and no doubt exhausting too). I am in awe of the scale of it. Belief, politics, geography, history - it's all here and all believable.
The plotting is also immaculate. The way Shannon has created her POV characters and how she has crafted every twist and turn of the plot to bring them together and apart is masterful. I will say that at times the characters felt more like pieces in the elaborate chess match that was Shannon's plot, rather than fully fleshed-out human beings.
There are four characters - dubbed "storytellers" in Shannon's extensive notes and glossaries - whose points of view we see. Tunuva, a middle-aged sister at the Priory of the Orange Tree, Glorian, the adolescent heir to a fabled queendom, Wulf, a young man sworn to a Northern King, and Dumai, a twenty-seven-year-old apostle at an ancient mountain temple.
Of all of them, the ones I liked best were probably Tunuva, Glorian and Wulf. Dumai I couldn't really warm to, although she was very interesting as a character.
Speaking of characters, this novel has a huge cast - I appreciated the index at the back, which I found an excellent way of keeping track of the characters and their relationships with one another and their worlds. I did feel that some of the smaller characters got lost in the bigness of it all. Of the secondary characters, I probably appreciated Nikeya most. And Canthe (
Aside from feminine agency and power (similarly dominant in Priory), the themes of environmentalism, religion, and belief also come through very strongly. The overarching plot point of the novel is analogous to world events of the last few years (
LGBTQIA+ representation is done well throughout. There are trans and non-binary folk in the large cast of characters, and a range of different sexualities among minor and major characters also. Within the world Shannon has created, this gender and sexual diversity is normalised, which is refreshing to read about. Although this is an imagined world in terms of ethnicity there is still a range of skin tones from white to dark-skinned, which I know many will appreciate.
Although it has its flaws, this was overall a satisfying and highly enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
Strong scenes depicting supernaturally inflicted violence (ie